❤️ Our Bay Islands
Still ZERO cases of confirmed COVID-19 in the Bay Islands!
Please keep in mind we need to remain vigilant. We know little about the virus except that it is highly contagious and we cannot let our guard down. Help us keep you and the rest of our island healthy.
STAY AT HOME.
If you suspect you are having symptoms of
COVID-19, please call (+504 8820-2444 a local Roatan contact). They will go to your house, take samples, and send them out for testing. They do reserve the right to not test based on questionnaires evaluating your symptoms.
STAY HOME! Be vigilant! We are still in a STATE OF EMERGENCY.
STATE OF EMERGENCY:
Coxen Hole today was super busy. This State of Emergency is not an excuse to party nor is it a vacation. Spend time with your families but spend time with them at home.
Please respect the ordinance mandating one person from each household can circulate for essential errands only on their assigned day. This is not for socializing, nor should your whole family be out and about.
We have received some ideas to improve the system; for example reducing the number of ID terminations that are allowed to go out per day by increasing the number of days we are allowed to go out from 3 (Mon, Wed, Fri) to 5 (Mon - Fri). For example, today all persons whose IDs ended in 7, 8, 9 and 0 were allowed to go out. Had today been limited to 7 and 8 or 9 and 0, there would have been more room for individuals to maintain social distancing, alleviating long lines at the banks, etc.
Conversations with the Central Government are underway to restart delivery services once again, with distinct parameters. These include all delivery businesses being subject to supervision by an assigned authority/institution to ensure all biosafety measures are being observed. Approvals will be granted on a business-per-business basis. Stay tuned for updates on if and when this may happen.
We are working with the Bay Islands Tourism Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce to collect exemption documents to request permission from Central Governments to open businesses, such as hardware stores.
We have a supply of PPEs for hospitals, we have about 80 quarantine beds available (outside of the hospital). There is a small quarantine space in the Roatan Public Hospital. We do plan on using funds raised to purchase more necessary PPEs. We have also requested these supplies from Central Government and are hoping to receive private donations. Unfortunately, we don’t have a mobile clinic planned for Utila.
When you enter the Roatan Public Hospital, they screen you first for COVID-19 before entering the hospital.
4 home ventilators arrived yesterday. There are also 2 private home ventilators on Roatan, making a total of 6.
Yesterday, we had a Zoom meeting with the Rotary of Roatan. Zoom is a great way for multiple different people from different locations to talk together.
HOW TO HELP:
Donate at
https://themakeitcountfoundation.org/ Every dollar counts. The more funds we have, the more food we can buy, the more medical supplies we can buy, the more people we can help.
Today’s update of total funds raised = US $111,488.33.
Consider asking your company if they do matching funds for your donations (e.g. Microsoft, Chevron, Pepsico, and many large and medium corporations).
Heath Miller created a campaign for Utila.
His campaign #supportUtila (supportutila.com) has raised close to US $5,000 USD. While we are raising funds for all of the Bay Islands, we also encourage you to donate to any organization that is close to your heart or that supports your favorite island.
You can also donate at to support other efforts around the islands including SOL International Foundation https://www.solroatan.org/ food drive with Nidia Webster and Roatan Because We Care, the Chamber of Tourism, Rotary Club, Roatan Marine Park (will be needing fuel for patrolling our borders), and all of the other great foundations that you know here on the island working hard to help us recover.
Donate dry goods to the COPECO food drive and Nidia Webster’s food drive.
If you have not received food assistance or have faced discrimination during any of the food drives organized by the government, please provide detailed information and photographs if possible. Aid is meant for everyone in need (i.e. have lost their job and are not working) regardless they are from the Bay Islands or originally from the mainland.
RETURNING HOME:
We have documented 107 individuals wanting to return to the Bay Islands, their primary residence. Most of these people are in the US and on mainland Honduras. Others are spread out in other locations. At this point, we just don’t have the right mechanism to bring you back to the island and still insure we will be 100% COVID-19 free. Now that we’ve quantified who is trying to get back and where you are coming from, we can start planning HOW to get you back here, while still protecting the population here. We understand it is really difficult. We are working hard to get you home.
There are Hondurans reentering the country via Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula as they have established containment zones.
We are working with local authorities and La Ceiba authorities to coordinate the safe passage of persons back to the mainland from Roatan via ferry.
Listen to your authorities. They are working hard to keep us COVID-19 free. Follow the rules.
COVID-19 BAY ISLANDS RESPONSE TEAM is working tirelessly to make sure everyone stays healthy and safe.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! Dino would like you to meet everyone because this is a HUGE TEAM working amazingly well together. Meet the team on the governor’s FB pages. Lisa Blythe is today’s highlighted COVID-19 response team volunteer. The response team includes Congressman Ron McNab, Mayor Jerry Hynds, Mayor Carson Dilbert, Mayor Troy Bodden, Mayor Spurgeon Miller, the minister of health, COPECO, volunteers, local businesses, and other supportive organizations. This is an amazing effort to keep our community healthy and safe.
STAY HOME! Let's keep our Bay Islands to ZERO cases